My parents taught me gratitude by their daily examples. I'm grateful for so many things--the smile of our son or the crackle on the top of a giant ginger cookie. I hope to share that gratitude with you year round as you visit me here at Halland (Hall Land) House Gifts.

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Homespun Gathering

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Halt! Who Sews There?

Current Progress

To be honest, I haven't been sewing much lately. I started cutting and piecing my first quilt, but there was a straight of grain debacle. More on that in an upcoming post. Cross stitching came to a snail's pace. After four months on the same project I just lost steam. I just didn't realize how many crosses were in this stitch. Many stitchers get borderitis. Not me, but I do get fill-in-itis. I needed to do something to get this project finished. I still love it, but I will love it even more once I stitch the date in.-lol.

I hang larger projects on the Shaker shelf to keep them out of the way of crazy cat. I noticed a couple of days ago the banner looked a little like a bar graph. Hmm, eureka! I'll just treat this like a donation campaign from a hundred years ago. The more I stitch, the closer to that goal I get. What is being donated? Why stitches, of course. I've decided I just need to stitch with a length (39" typical length for me) of 6 strand floss. I'm using 2 strands over 2. I don't always make this goal every day, but I'm working toward it anyway. I'm hoping to have this one finished in the next two weeks for they next local needle gathering.

Jumping into a timed photo

We have been keeping busy here with work and school, but last Saturday my husband and I went to a local Chocolate Affair. There were about 20-30 vendors there each with some variety of savory and/or sweet treat to nibble. They asked we take only one item before coming back for seconds. I can't even imagine going back for seconds. It took us three trips just to get around once. There was a broad selection of items with treats ranging on both ends of our preference meter. There was a chocolate (highly drunken) rum ball laced with cayenne. I surprisingly couldn't taste the rum over the burn of the cayenne. All in all it was a great experience, and I would do it again. Chocolate is a health food after all. :-)

Listen While You Work

I finally finished an audio book from my library's online audio section. I can play it on my Kindle or my laptop which encourages me to stitch for longer periods of time. Since then I've finished two books from the Cobbled Court book series and have started a third.

The online library has pros and cons like any library. You can pick a return time for your book up to three weeks. Your allowed to return it at any time, but if you don't the book automatically returns and access is denied until check it back out. This removes the fear of library fines. However, if you forget you've checked it out or how much time you have left to listen then POOF it's gone. I've not had this happen yet, but I've come close.

Snow Days

Snow Event #1: Abigail in her favorite perch

We have had a total of three snow events in the last month here in Middle Tennessee. I realize if you live in the north (or the deep north) 6" might give you a school delay, but here you will be out for several. I remember moving from NY state to Eastern KY as a teenager. We had an inch or two on the ground the morning of our first day. The locals knew there would be no delays, and no school for a while. I was shocked to be out for an entire week. Oh my goodness, we're certainly not in Kansas anymore Toto (Wizard of Oz reference). Sometime later the band was traveling by bus to a basketball game in another county. It was very clear to me why we were out so long. The further into the hills we got the tighter the curves were and the steeper the inclines were. I never did get used to it on those buses. Even though I try not to say it too loud here I love snow and cold weather. These are the natural signs of winter just like it doesn't feel right to start school in the beginning of August. When I was a kid we started in September, but then again Christmas break now Winter break was much shorter. I don't think we had a week or Fall Break or Spring Break. It adds up.

Snow Event #2 with ice

Old Faithful and one of the wood piles

We do NOT have a flat driveway.It's undrivable even with a small amount of ice.

Major Ice Dams

Shoveling uncovers thick layers of ice.

Had Abigail outside on the walking leash--relaxer for all of us.

Checking out more nature

If you look hard enough I think the prints look like a heart.

The Greenway

Back to training on the local Greenway. The current side I'm on is all but flat. When I went Wednesday I saw only two people. Let's just say I was alert more than normal. Yes, I had a charged cell phone, but I would have preferred a little more company, and maybe some gloves. It was a windy 27 degrees Fahrenheit--bad day to forget.

nearly tree-lined the entire route

Barns are a common sight as the trail meanders through farmland.

cows

fruit of the Sweet Gum tree--just beautiful

Cardinal welcoming me home after my run.

You may have noticed the quilt top at the top of this blog. Quilting will be my focus this year until I get the quilt finished. I'm hoping posting this photo at the top of my blog will help keep me focused. This quilt top was pulled out of a family trunk while Mom and I went exploring this past fall. We have no information on it. It may have been hand pieced by my grandmother or possibly someone in my grandfather's family line. In that case it wouldn't be the first Lone Star quilt. Other treasures included a stirrup and broken butter mold--common items from a farm.

I would like to thank everyone who has left a comment over the last few months. I enjoyed and treasure each and every one. In Blogland readers and commenters are very much family, and I'm always happy and encouraged when you drop by.

1 comment:

Your quilt top is an awesome treasure you found! I too want to get a quilt done this year. We have had snow frozen in place for a month up here in Wisconsin. We went to a chocolate event about 15 years ago. Delicious!

About Me

I come from many generations of women who gracefully and artfully created with needles. The surviving quilts they have sewn and other fabric arts are in my blood. I began counted cross stitching over thirty five years ago and have recently begun the process of quilting just like so many in my family. I live with my husband of 22 years, teenage son, beautiful cat Abigail and sweet German Shepherd here in our cozy Cape Cod in Tennessee.

About Me

I come from many generations of women who gracefully and artfully created with needles. The surviving quilts they have sewn and other fabric arts are in my blood. I began counted cross stitching over thirty five years ago and have recently begun the process of quilting just like so many in my family. I live with my husband of 22 years, teenage son, beautiful cat Abigail and sweet German Shepherd here in our cozy Cape Cod in Tennessee.